It will soon be five years since Vtuber Mori Calliope debuted with Cover’s hololive English Myth as one of the founding members of the company’s overseas branch. Since then, she’s passed over 2.5 million subscribers on YouTube, released two full albums, and participated in both solo concerts and ones with fellow Vtubers at the company. Most recently, she worked alongside Persona composer Shoji Meguro and Persona 3 singer Lotus Juice on “Seeing Stars.” Siliconera got to ask her a few questions after her solo concert “Grimoire” and ahead of hololive Super Expo 2025 and hololive 6th fes to talk about composing music, singing, and streaming.
Jenni Lada: Thanks for taking the time to speak with us. First of all, how are you feeling about Monster Hunter Wilds, given you played both World and Rise on stream?
Calliope Mori: Thanks for asking! I actually won’t be streaming it this time around, mostly due to the fact I’m too busy, my friends have it covered, and I just prefer other games! Every time I play MH, I have a good time, but it’s not something I really feel like continuing. I’m a fan of darker games personally (I wish I could stop being so edgy for just 2 seconds, but hey can’t be helped).
What game are you most looking forward to playing on stream in 2025 so far?
Mori Calliope: So far it’s Night Reign from FromSoft! I know it’s not a traditional Souls game, but I adore the world of Elden Ring so much and trust From’s vision, since everything they touch is gold. If only we could get some Armored Core 6 DLC… On the more indie side, I’m praying we get Everhood 2 sometime this year, but next year might be more likely.
You had a new song drop just after your 2nd Solo Concert “Grimoire.” What does the timeline look like for preparing and releasing a new track like that?
Mori Calliope: Considering the producer we asked is someone I’ve admired for over 15 years, the song itself had to be perfect. So I really wanted to take my time on it. I asked Lotus Juice to join in and of course the guy is just cool as hell, and he made time to be a part of it. There was a lot of back and forth and revisions with Meguro-san because I was building a very specific atmosphere based on his original idea. There was a lot of talk about details, like “maybe the melody should sound like this” or “I want to add an intro.” The intro to the song is actually something I came up with myself and just added in without direction… it felt very collaborative! Me and Lotus threw back demos for a while, writing lyrics as we went.
Meguro-san would update the track while we worked on lyrics, and eventually the recording day came. I was pretty hard on myself, and did a lot of re-takes which I think surprised Meguro-san. These days I’m a lot stricter with my singing, and if I don’t push the limit of what I can do, I feel defeated. That said, I still have only made a few songs I’m 100% proud of and fulfilled by. All I can say is I did my best to sing to the best of my limits, and am looking forward to being even better next time. But for now, the atmosphere is there and I’m happy I got to make a song with people I look up to so much and have idolized for years. They’re such professionals and were a joy to work with.
What kinds of challenges did you face preparing this new song while also preparing for Grimoire and the launch of the Hololive pop-up store?
Mori Calliope: I’m really hard on myself these days. I thought it’d be a good idea to take feedback to heart to improve as an artist and performer, but it’s made the creation process much more intense than I’m used to. I used to be pretty laid back in the studio, but these days I leave pretty mentally exhausted, just listening to the demos we made over and over again, unsatisfied with what I did. I’m trying to accept my limits as a musician these days, and that I can never be perfect, but it’s hard. Combine that with the many days of rehearsal preparation we had, plus other promotions and then my streaming schedule. It’s been tough. You need to either be a very laid back person, or have really good mental fortitude for this job.
Speaking of Grimoire, it’s a major concert for you. How much control did you have over things like songs you’ll be performing and other elements of the performance?
Mori Calliope: I chose the setlist and name, as well as theme. There were a lot of smaller decisions I made here and there, but the team put everything together wonderfully. My setlist was based on the assumption I’d have guests, though. “SNEAKING Revenge” was something I only wanted to do together with Lotus Juice, but the team said I had to choose between a live band and guests since we didn’t have enough resources with this being the first solo show in America. And, I couldn’t change the setlist by that time. So I made the best out of it, and the live band elevated that song so well that it ended up being a super fun time.
In August 2024, PHANTOMIME made it into the Billboard top 10 albums outside of Japan. What was that like for you, and how did you notice your career and presence change after that?
Mori Calliope: I’d been aiming for that spot for a long time. There is a lot of pressure when a label takes you on and offers you their support and access to big dreams, you don’t want to let them down. We’d been praying for growth and finally got it. I breathed such a big sigh of relief. It made me think “I can do what I love for a while longer. I can keep looking out UM’s office window at the Tokyo skyline and feel lucky I get to do what I do.” Dramatic, isn’t it? Lol. I really love making music. So I thought then, “could I go further if I tried…?”
My presence hasn’t changed though, haha. With Universal, I’m an up and coming virtual musician who mixes Western and Eastern culture, but with Hololive I’m just an old EN grandma at this point, just really here to help the new people. Streaming numbers are usually on the low side for me, regardless of whether my music has been successful. But my music does comparatively well and that’s always my main focus. Plus, not every song can be a hit and that’s just the reality of being a musician. It’s hard for me to perceive the hard data my label has, but since offers and tie-ups are always coming in, I assume I did a good job? That’s what the label tells me! So I try not to worry over it so much and leave those logistics to them.
Now that you’ve been on the cover of Rolling Stone Japan, gotten into the top spots of the Billboard charts, and had “Go-Getters” be featured as a theme song for Suicide Squad Isekai. What kinds of new goals did you set for yourself after hitting these new sales and popularity milestones?
Mori Calliope: I really just want to make better music. There’s a bunch of dreams left, like touring America, more anime songs, doing a joint tour with a friend or an admired artist, collaborating with Gorillaz, performing at Madison Square Garden…those wait at the end of a very long road. Music is competitive as hell and luck is a big factor, but skill increases those chances significantly. If I don’t improve, I’ll never be able to see those dreams come true regardless, so I’m meeting with a lot of different artists I respect and learning so many lessons from them. I’m also learning bass and composing my own works here and there, so there is much left to do…in terms of popularity, it’s something I avoid thinking too much about but I’d love to see if we can fly up the artist charts again for the next release and beat the #72 we got after PHANTOMIME’s release… gotta grow first to get there, though!!
As someone who’s been listening to your songs since you debuted with hololive, a lot of your music sounds like it has major crossover appeal. How would you feel about your songs being on FM or SiriusXM and is that something we could see happen in the future?
Mori Calliope: Thanks! I don’t know if I’d want anything I made before 2024 (“Wanted, Wasted,” excluded) to play on mainstream radio, but my newer works are slowly becoming a bit more mainstream friendly bit by bit. It’s not something I do consciously, I don’t really care if the mainstream wants to listen to my works. I make what I want and what fulfills me. But as I started paying more attention to whether “this song would sound good to ears that aren’t my own,” there was a shift. I also began to enjoy different types of music outside of my usual alternative J-rap bubble, and it gave me a different perspective on composing and what to pay attention to when writing for myself but also expanding into a new audience. So maybe someday! Maybe give it a few years, or choose like the 3 songs I’ve released so far that are mostly English and have less rap in them (J-rap is just too different in contents and flow than English rap, I don’t think overseas mainstream will ever warm up to it). I think j-rap done by native Japanese people could find a fairly large and accepting fan base amongst fans of anime, but it’s certainly not a foreigner who is going to popularize it. I still just do it because I like it, though I’ve been phasing it out as my interest in other genres has grown.
I think also that mainstream isn’t ready to accept Japanese lyrics yet. Spanish has only just barely made it into being acceptable for “mainstream American ears” so there is definitely hope. Japanese lyrics will probably still be dismissed as “weird anime stuff” for a while longer though, so I’ll just work on my own sound and composition skills in the meantime and see where we end up.
We’ve seen situations where Hatsune Miku performed on The Late Show with David Letterman. How would you feel about getting to perform on late night TV or being the musical guest on a show like Saturday Night Live?
Mori Calliope: I’d love to! I need to work a little harder to develop my sound though. Maybe in a year or so. I think there is potential but there’s some stuff I need to figure out first. For the record, I’m not silly enough to say no to that kind of offer. Just my own musings, I guess!
Once the Switch 2 launches, will we get to see you streaming its games?
Mori Calliope: If the games are good, I’m there. It really depends on the games! Nintendo’s titles tend to air on the brighter side that my horrible edge-lord self never finds much interest in (lol) but I’ll try anything once if it’s good. It’s nice to have a little color in your life here and there!